Leeds Rhinos hosted St Helens in a first play-off game at Headingley since 2017 and the match produced plenty of talking points as the Saints progressed to the Super League semi-finals.
They have set up a meeting with Hull KR with the Robins set to host the Saints next Saturday at Craven Park to contest for a spot at Old Trafford after an incredible last minute winner from Shane Wright.
St Helens won 16-14 in the with an 80th minute penalty on the 50 metre line resulting in the ball being kept alive for close to a minute, before being shifted wide to the left (not to West) for Wright to score the winer.
The big talk pre-match was how Paul Wellens would line up his spine and the St Helens boss opted to keep it the same with Tristan Sailor at one and Jack Welsby and Jonny Lomax in the halves. He also called Jon Bennison back into action with Kyle Feldt unable to recover from his back spasms suffered last week.
As for Leeds, they returned to near full strength as Jake Connor, Ryan Hall, Lachie Miller and captain Ash Handley were all named.
Leeds’ night started poorly as Lachie Miller kicked out on the full but they were first on the scoreboard through Chris Hankinson before Saints hit back through Jonny Lomax after Morgan Knowles’ improvised kick. The home side hit back almost immediately after a spell of offloads teed up James McDonnell who danced through.
The second-half scoring didn’t start until 65 minutes when Jake Connor kicked a penalty, opening up a vital two-score lead but Jon Bennison’s late converted try and the incredible Shane Wright score meant St Helens won 16-14 in an incredible ending..
Here are some of the major talking points after St Helens famous 16-14 win.
Leeds Rhinos v St Helens talking points
Semi-finals set
We now know that St Helens will travel to Hull KR next Saturday after their incredible winner in the final minute of the game. With one final play left, Saints sent it from coast to coast with Harry Robertson doing superbly on the right flank before offloading to Tristan Sailor who flung a pass 15 metres and started the shift left for a Shane Wright score.
It’s a Super League ending that rivals the infamous ‘Wide to West’ moment and once again, you can never write off the Saints!
Saints selection blunder
St Helens were dealt a major blow at half time when prop forward Matty Lees left Headingley to go to the hospital, where his wife had gone into labour.
Whilst that’s a perfectly understandable situation for Lees, it’s one where St Helens could and maybe should have considered it as a possibility but it would appear they didn’t as just one prop was named on the bench.
Noah Stephens was named as 18th man whilst Agnatius Paasi was left out of the 21-man squad meaning Saints only had Moses Mbye and two second-rowers to rotate with once Lees departed Headingley. It’s worth noting that it’s unclear at what stage of pregnancy Matty Lees’ wife is at so perhaps it could not have been foreseen though it could well have been an oversight. All at Serious About Rugby League with the Lees family the very best.
Play-off officiating
It’s always said that the play-offs are refereed differently and to some extent, they should be. When games are allowed to flow and players are allowed to toe the line that bit more, magic moments happen.
However, Curtis Sironen’s unprovoked open-palm to the face of James McDonnell is a sin bin every day of the week and in every other game of rugby league played this year.
Refusing to sin bin him because of the fact it is the play-offs and a close game at that is a bad look.
Saints slow the ruck down
The boos rung out at Headingley at half time despite the fact Leeds were leading and you have to assume that most of those boos were aimed at Jack Smith as St Helens were allowed to slow the ruck down considerably.
It helped keep them in the game as well with Leeds drained and prevented from creating much, forced to stay in the grind for longer and almost into the mentality of having to a win a game that they were already leading.
It’s the dark arts of rugby league and Leeds did seem to catch on in the second half but you need more than just a disruptive playstyle to win play-off matches. Thankfully, Saints had a miracle to win it late on.
Wasted Welsby
Pushed into the halves because of Tristan Sailor’s usage at full-back means that Jack Welsby, a top three full-back in Super League, is wasted.
He took on more kicking responsibilities and fared fine but not well, however, his brilliance out of backfield as the extra attacker is what Saints lose when he plays in the halves and it’s something that Tristan Sailor doesn’t seem to add.
Leeds honour Rhinos legend
In their first home play-off match since 2017, Headingley put on a show and prior to kick-off those in attendance honoured a Rhinos legend.
Departing chief executive Gary Hetherington presented the match ball for what will be the final home game of his 29-year tenure with the club, before he links up with London Broncos.
It’s hard to summarise just what Hetherington has done for Leeds Rhinos with the club’s success over the past 25 years all stemming from his brilliant off-field work. Headingley certainly recognised that as the crowd rose to their feet to pay tribute to one of the very best Leeds have ever had.
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